Atlanta Hawks Power Rankings - 2014-15

If you think we're tough, Atlanta, you don't want to hear about ESPN's Basketball Power Index. The BPI has the Hawks ranked at a mere No. 10, thanks to a 6-6 mark against teams .500 or better since Feb. 1, while giving them less than a 50 percent shot at reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

The schedule and Kyle Korver's busted nose made it a rough week for the Hawks, who have slipped outside of our top three for the first time since Dec. 29. Yet they're still a top-10 team in both offensive and defensive efficiency ... with Thabo Sefolosha back soon. Hold your panic, please.

The Hawks appear to be convincing Las Vegas that they're a true title contender. This season's first team to 50 wins -- which opened as a 60-to-1 shot to win it all with the Westgate SuperBook -- is 6-1 now, tied with OKC and trailing only Cleveland (2-1) and Golden State (5-2).

Crushing Cleveland was a fantastic way to cap Nique Week, but the hidden highlight for the Hawks since our last rankings might well be Indiana inching toward the No. 7 seed in the East. The Hawks are tops in the league at 26-8 against current playoff teams ... but Indy in Round 1 doesn't sound fun.

Quite a week in store for the East-leading Hawks, thanks to Friday's home date with the Cavs and the unveiling of a thoroughly deserved statue for Dominique Wilkins. Don't forget that Atlanta, for all the fuss over Cleveland lately, still sports a healthy 10-game lead over the rest of the East and a 65-win pace.

The Hawks, held below 100 points in four of their last five games, haven't been outside our top two since Dec. 29. Could be worse, though. That mystery committee over at ESPN's Basketball Power Index has Atlanta at a mere No. 11 overall and FIFTH in the East behind the Cavs, Raps and Bulls.

The Hawks, despite a 3-3 stretch and a bad loss at Boston before the All-Star break, are still riding high with a 6 1/2-game lead in the Eastern Conference. They need to play only .600 ball for the rest of the way to clinch the first 60-win campaign in franchise history. (Bo Churney, HawksHoop)

The Hawks probably had that taunting tweet from the Grizz coming, given how aggressive they've been with their own Twitter feed, but you can live with a narrow loss at Memphis when you're 8-2 against the West's top eight ... with the L's coming against the Grizz and Spurs by a combined eight points.

The Hawks' 17-0 January was the best month this league has ever seen. But the week that capped it was undeniably rough for a team that hasn't lost since the day after Christmas. Thabo Sefolosha is out, DeMarre Carroll is ailing, and this week's schedule is daunting with a capital D.

The Hawks, thanks to win streaks of nine and 16 games and 10 wins in a row against Western Conference opposition, are just the 10th team in history to play at least 32 games and lose only two of them. Six of the previous nine -- since we know that was your next question -- went on to win it all.

You won't find a Hawk in the NBA's top 30 in points per game or minutes per game. They supposedly still need a real rim protector, but who else would you put here when the Hawks are 26-2 since Thanksgiving ... and assisting on a league-high 70 percent of their made baskets during that stretch?

The Hawks are up to 22-2 since their 7-6 start and have climbed from 26th overall in defensive efficiency to No. 5. Hollinger's strength of schedule table says Atlanta has had an easier ride than all but four teams ... but a league-leading 13 wins over .500-or-better teams tells a different tale.

This is the latest in a season that the Hawks -- on pace to win a franchise-record 62 games -- have topped the East since this committee (of one) started covering the NBA in 1993-94. The same season, as noted last week, when the Hawks stunningly dealt Dominique Wilkins for Danny Manning on deadline day.

Only one game left in a 13-2 December that has triggered the best 30-game start in Hawks history since a 23-7 launch in 1993-94. (That's the season Atlanta, just 10 days into a certain someone's L.A. Daily News beat-writing career, dealt the iconic Dominique Wilkins to the Clips for Danny Manning.)

As of last Monday, Atlanta had played the NBA's weakest schedule. On this Monday, Atlanta is reveling in wins over Chicago (home), Cleveland (road) and Houston (road), generating more Spurs East talk than ever and making me look good (for a change) for picking Mike Bud as preseason COY.

Make that two L's at the buzzer for the Hawks thanks to Lance Stephenson and now Tobias Harris. So think about it: Thanks to that nine-game winning streak in which it outscored the opposition by an average of 14.0 PPG, Atlanta would be leading the East had it won those two heartbreakers.

A check of the SOS column in the Hollinger Power Rankings reveals that the Hawks have played the weakest schedule in the league to date. Fine. You still have to give the Southeast Division's surprise co-leaders props -- Jeff Teague most of all -- for taking advantage

I'd say the Hawks got their revenge for that game-winning triple Lance Stephenson banked in at the OT buzzer on Nov. 7. Saturday's 30-point undressing of the Hornets, combined with Jeff Teague's 21.3 PER and Kyle Korver's 55.3 percent shooting from deep, gives Atlanta some shiny numbers to stare at.

Pardon us if we don't agree with the rising notion that the Leastern Conference is exceeding expectations. The Hawks are a No. 5 seed on this Monday with the league's 24th-ranked defense and an average scoring margin of minus-0.3. Ten teams in the West have an average point margin in the green.

The Hawks quietly assembled a useful little four-game winning streak until the Cavs hit them with a 9-for-9 haymaker from the 3-point line in the first quarter Saturday night. That's the most 3s without a miss for one team in a single quarter since the NBA ushered in the 3-point shot in 1979-80.

Kyle Korver is shooting 61.3 percent from deep and Dennis Schroder is starting to play (and dunk) more. For those reasons, I enjoyed watching the Hawks even while they were enduring the misery of a narrow L at San Antonio, followed by the double-OT defeat in Charlotte in far more crushing fashion.

That Team USA elected not to take him to Spain doesn't appear to have thrown off Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver. He's off to a tidy 8-for-10 opening salvo from 3-point range for the Hawks, who also have to like the look of Al Horford's first two games' worth of comeback contributions.

Al Horford didn't look great in the preseason, but just seeing him on the floor was a serious lift for a franchise that certainly needed one after its tumultuous offseason. I'd go so far as to say I see Atlanta as a sleeper in the East. And here's the proof: Mike Budenholzer got my preseason COY nod.

It would be so much better to be focused here on Al Horford's comeback. Or the fact that the Southeast Division is suddenly so wide open. Unfortunately that's not going to be possible with the Danny Ferry cloud and sale-related uncertainty hovering over the franchise. Not for a while.